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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 
U,&. BUREAU OF EDUCATION 


BULLETIN, 1921, No. 46 


EDUCATIONAL WORK OF THE 
GIRL SCOUTS 


/ 


LOUISE STEVENS BRYANT 

EDUCATIONAL SECRETARY GIRL SCOUTS 


[ Advance sheets from the Biennial Survey of Education in 
the United States, 1918-1920] 



WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1921 


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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

RECBfVSO 

•JAN 5-1922 

OOOUMir«Tb LllV.JION 




EDUCATIONAL WOKK OF THE GIEL SCOUTS. 


By Louise Stevens Bey ant. 
Educational Secretary, Girl Scouts. 


Contents. —History and growth—Activities—Methods—Organization. 


Do you believe that girls should like to work at home, to cook 
and clean house and mind the baby? Do you believe that a girl 
should like to take care of her clothes and be able to make them; 
that she should know how to be thrifty and to conserve the family 
money in buying and using food and clothing; that she should play 
a fair game and put the group above her personal interests? Do 
you believe that she should value a strong healthy body above clothes 
and cosmetics, and rejoice in the hope of being some day the healthy 
mother of healthy children? 

If you do, you believe in the Girl Scouts, for in this organization 
the girls learn all these things in such a happy way that they like 
to do them, which means that they keep on doing them. 

The Girl Scouts, a national organization, is open to any girl who 
expresses her desire to join, and voluntarily accepts the promise and 
the laws. The object of the Girl Scouts is to bring to all girls the 
opportunity for group experience, outdoor life, and to learn through 
work, but more by play, to serve their community. Patterned after 
the Girl Guides of England, the sister organization of the Boy 
Scouts, the Girl Scouts have developed a method of self-government 
and a variety of activities that appear to be well suited to the de¬ 
sires of the girls, as the 89,864 scouts and the 2,500 new applicants 
each month testify. 

HISTORY AND GROWTH. 

Girl Scouts and their leaders, to the number of 89,864, were in 
1920 organized in every State, and in Hawaii, Porto Bico, and Alaska. 
There are troops in 1,400 cities, and local councils in 162 places. This 
represents a tremendous growth since the founding by Mrs. Juliette 
Low in March, 1912, of a handful of enthusiastic “ Girl Guides ” in 
Savannah, Ga. In 1915 the growth of the movement warranted its 
national incorporation; so headquarters were established in Washing¬ 
ton, D. C., and the name changed to Girl Scouts, Incorporated. In 
1916 the headquarters were removed to New York, and are now 
located at 189 Lexington Avenue. 

74040°—21 


3 




4 


BIENNIAL, SURVEY OE EDUCATION, 1918-1920. 


From the start the organization has been nonsectarian and open to 
all races and nationalities. Through the International Council the 
Girl Scouts are affiliated with the Girl Guides of England and all 
parts of the British Empire, and similar organizations in other parts 
of the world. 

At the 1920 meeting of the international conference at London, 
reports were received from Italy, France, Belgium, Switzerland, 
Poland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Portugal, Russia, 
Czechoslovakia, Brazil, Argentina, Japan, China, and Siberia, 
as well as from all parts of the British Empire, and the United 
States. 

From a membership of 9,769 in January, 1918, the girl scouts grew 
to 89,864 in 1921, at the rate of nearly 10 to 1 in three years. The, 
greatest relative growth was in 1918, when the membership grew 
fourfold. During 1919 the increase over the preceding year was 
more than two-thirds, while in 1920 the relative increase was one- 
third. The details are as shown in the accompanying table. 

This growth is due to a spontaneous demand of community after 
community for scouting for girls, and not to deliberate propaganda 
on the part of the national headquarters. The reasons for it are 
therefore to be sought in the activities and methods themselves, 
which make such widespread appeal. 

ACTIVITIES. 

A glance through the handbook, Scouting for Girls, will show that 
the activities of the girl scouts center about the three interests— 
Home, Health, and Citizenship. 

Rome .—The program provides incentives for practicing woman’s 
world-old arts by requiring an elementary proficiency in cooking, 
housekeeping, first aid, and the rules of healthful living for any 
girl scout passing beyond the Tenderfoot stage. Of the forty-odd 
subjects for which Proficiency Badges are given, more than one- 
fourth are in subjects directly related to the services of woman in the 
home, as mother, nurse, or home-keeper. 


Growth of Girl Scout membership, Jan. 1, 1918, to Jan. 1, 1921—Active 
registrations. 


January 1. 

Officers. 

Increase. 

Scouts. 

Increase. 

Total. 

Increase. 

1918. 

1,314 

3,823 

5,357 

6,839 


8,455 
36,847 
61,754 
83,025 


9,769 
40,670 
67, 111 
89,864 


1919. 

2,509 

1,534 

1,482 

28,392 

24,907 

21,271 

30,901 

26,441 

22,753 

1920. 

1921. 



Into this work, so often distasteful because solitary, is brought 
the sense of comradeship. This is effected partly by having much of 


















EDUCATIONAL WORK OF THE GIRL SCOUTS. 


5 


the actual training done in groups. Another element is the public 
recognition and rewarding of skill in this, woman’s most elementary 
service to the world, usually taken for granted and ignored. 

The spirit of play infused into the simplest and most repetitious 
of household tasks banishes drudgery. “ Give us, oh, give us,” says 
Carlyle, “ the man who sings at his work. He will do more in the 
same time, he will do it better, he will persevere longer. Wondrous 
is the strength of cheerfulness; altogether past comprehension .its 
power of endurance.” 

While the place of most production is to-day outside the home, 
much of the final preparation of goods, particularly food and cloth¬ 
ing, is still done there. So that, while the homecrafts are far from 
being the vital necessities they once were, they are still needed. 

Handicrafts of many sorts enter into the program of the girl 
scouts. In camping, girls must know how to set up tents, build 
lean-to’s, and construct fireplaces. They must also know how to 
make knots of various sorts to use for bandages, tying parcels, hitch¬ 
ing, etc. Among the productive occupations in which Proficiency 
Badges are awarded are cooking, house planning, beekeeping, dairy¬ 
ing and general farming, gardening, millinery, weaving, and needle¬ 
work. 

While production has left the home, consumption is increasingly 
the business of the home-keeping woman. There are few purchases, 
even for men’s own use, which women do not have a hand in selecting. 
Practically the entire burden of household buying in all depart¬ 
ments falls on the woman, who is thus in a position to learn how to 
spend wisely and make the most of each dollar. In France this has 
long been recognized, and the women of the middle classes are the 
buying partners and bookkeepers in their husbands’ business. 

The girl-scout organization encourages thrifty habits and economy 
in buying in all of its activities. The scout troops are self-support¬ 
ing, and are expected to earn most of their equipment by means of 
rallies, pageants, plays, as well as by individual effort. One of the 
10 scout laws is that “A girl scout is thrifty.” 

Health .—The girl scout learns that “ a cheerful scout, a clean scout, 
a helpful scout is a well scout. She is the only scout that really is 
prepared .” So that health, physical and mental, is the keynote to the 
scout activities, which are calculated to develop the habit of health, 
rather than simply to give information about anatomy or physiology. 
Personal health is recognized by the badge of “ Health Winner,” 
given to the girl who for three months follows certain rules of liv¬ 
ing, such as eating only wholesome food, drinking plenty of water, 
going to bed early, exercising in the open air, and keeping clean, 
and who shows the result by improved posture, and by the absence of 


6 


BIENNIAL SURVEY OP EDUCATION, 1918-1320. 


constipation and colds. Outdoor sports, swimming, boating, and 
dancing are other health-producing activities. 

Of all health-promoting activities, camping is the best, and this 
means all stages of life in the open, from the day’s hike, with one 
meal out of doors, to the overnight or week-end hike, and finally the 
real, big camp, open all summer. Girl scouts learn how to dress for 
outdoor living, how to walk without fatigue, and how to provide 
themselves with food, warmth, and shelter, so that “ roughing it ” 
does not mean being uncomfortable. 

During 1920, 50 large girl-scout camps were maintained in 16 
States. These are self-supporting, and as they are open for 10 weeks 
as a rule and accommodate about 50 girls at a time, they give an 
opportunity to several thousand for the best sort of holiday. 

The idea is to have enough camps to give every scout the experi¬ 
ence. To promote this work national headquarters maintains a camp¬ 
ing section and has published a book, “ Camp ward Ho!” which gives 
full directions for organizing and running large, self-supporting 
camps for girls. 

Community health habits are quite as important as the purely per¬ 
sonal, and the older girl scout is expected to become a “ health 
guardian,” which means that she takes an intelligent interest in the 
things pertaining to public health, such as playgrounds, swimming 
pools, school lunches, the water and milk supplies, clean streets, the 
disposition of waste and garbage, the registration of births, and the 
prevention of infant mortality. She al^o learns how to help in times 
of emergency as first aid, in sickness as home nurse, and at any time 
as child nurse. 

A scout whose mind is filled with interesting facts about birds and 
animals and trees, and who is busy playing games with her com¬ 
panions or in making useful and beautiful things and in rendering 
active service to her home and community, is apt to have a 
healthy mind without thinking much about it. And she has a little 
rule for the blue times, which is “ to smile and sing under all diffi¬ 
culties.” 

Citizenship .—The basic organization of the girl scouts into the self- 
governing unit of a patrol is in itself an excellent means of political 
training. Patrols and troops conduct their own meetings, and the 
scouts learn the elements of parliamentary law. Working together 
in groups, they realize the necessity for democratic decisions. They 
also come to have community interests of an impersonal sort. This 
is perhaps the greatest single contribution of the scouts toward the 
training of girls for citizenship. Little boys play not only together 
but with men and boys of all ages. The interest of baseball is not 
confined to any one age. The rules of the game are the same for 
all, and the smallest boy’s judgment on the skill of the players may 


EDUCATIONAL WORK OF THE GIRL SCOUTS. 


7 


be as valid as that of the oldest “ fan. ,? Girls have had in the past no 
such common interests. Their games have been either solitary or in 
very small groups, in activities largely of a personal character. If 
women are to be effective in modern political society, they must have 
from earliest youth gregarious interests and occupations. 

Among the scout activities that tend to develop this larger com¬ 
munity sense are games, athletic sports of all kinds, including team 
work and competition between small, well-knit groups. Folk dancing 
and other forms of amusement, such as dramatics, pageants, and 
story-telling, serve a similar purpose because they all mean the pos¬ 
session of a resource not only for the right use of the girl’s own leisure 
time, but for serving this need in the community. 

METHODS. 

The activities of the girl scouts are, of course, not peculiar to this 
organization. Every one of them is provided for elsewhere, in 
schools, clubs, and societies. But the way in which they are com¬ 
bined and coordinated about certain basic principles is peculiar to 
the girl scouts. 

In the first place all these activities have a common motive, which 
is preparation for a fuller life for the individual, not only in her 
personal but in her social relations. It is believed that both the habits 
formed and the concrete information acquired contribute to the girls 
being ready to meet intelligently most of the situations that are likely 
to arise in their later life. This concept is expressed in the girl 
scout’s motto, “ Be prepared.” 

The method of preparation followed is that found in nature, 
whereby young animals and birds ylay at doing all the things they 
will need to do well when they are grown and must feed and fend 
for themselves and their babies. 

The heart of the girl scouts’ laws is helpfulness, and so the scouts 
have a slogan: “Doa good turn daily.” By following this in letter 
and spirit, helpfulness becomes second nature. 

Because the girl scouts are citizens they know and respect the mean¬ 
ing of the flag, and one of the first things they learn is the pledge: 

“ I pledge allegiance to my flag, and to the Kepublic for which it 
stands.; one Nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” 

Some observers have criticized the girl-scout organization be¬ 
cause of its apparently military character. It is true that the girls 
wear a uniform of khaki and are grouped in patrols corresponding 
to the “fours” ifi the Army; that they salute and learn simple 
forms of drill and signaling. But the reason they do these is because 
the military organization happens to be the oldest form of organiza¬ 
tion in the world, and it works. It is the best way men have found 


BIENNIAL, SITBYEY OF EDUCATION, 1918-1920. 


of getting a number of persons to work together. Following direc¬ 
tions given to a group is quite a different matter from doing some¬ 
thing alone, and most of us need special training in this. A group 
of eight has been found to work the best, because it is the largest 
number that can be handled by a.person just beginning to be a leader, 
and, moreover, elementary qualities of leadership seem to exist in 
just about the proportion of one in eight. It is probably on this 
account that children take so kindly to the form, rather than because 
of any glamor of the army, though this must be admitted as a 
factor. In actual practice the drill and signaling take up a very 
small portion of the program and are nowhere followed as ends in 
themselves, but only as a means to an end. 

Uniform .—The uniform is simple, durable, and allows freedom of 
action. It is of khaki because this has been found to be the best 
wearing fabric and color. It is not easily torn and does not readily 
soil. Wearing it gives the girls a sense of belonging to a larger 
group, such as it is hard to get in any other way. It keeps constantly 
before them the fact that they represent a community to whose laws 
they have voluntarily subscribed, and whose honor they uphold. 
It is well, too, to have an impersonal costume, if for no other reason 
than to counteract the tendency of girls to concentrate upon their 
personal appearance. To have a neat, simple, useful garb is a novel 
experience to many an overdressed doll who has been taught to 
measure all worth by extravagance of appearance. 

ORGANIZATION. 

The outstanding feature of the girl-scout organization is its volun¬ 
tary character. Among some 7,400 officers and leaders of girl scouts 
throughout the country in the fall of 1920, just 211 were “ paid 
workers.” This is about 3 per cent. The organization is actually a 
great volunteer school of citizenship in which the women of the coun¬ 
try share with their younger sisters the results of their own experi¬ 
ence in ideals and practical working knowledge of community living. 
Scout troops are organized either independently or in connection with 
public and private schools, churches, settlements, and other associa¬ 
tions. 

Scouts of different ages .—The original girl-scout program was 
designed mainly with the needs of the young .adolescent in mind, and 
the age was fixed from 10 to 18 years. But the little girls wanted to 
come in, and so a separate division was made for them called the 
Brownies or Junior Scouts. Then the older girls and women wanted 
to join, and as time went on the original girl scouts grew up but not 
out of the scout movement, and programs are being made for Citizen 
Scouts who are 18 and over. 


EDUCATIONAL WORK OE THE GIRL SCOUTS. 


9 


The three age groups seem to be natural ones, and each has its own 
methods and activities. The Brownies are formed into packs, under 
the leadership of a “ Brown Owl,” and play games and learn self- 
help and how to “ lend a hand ” to their families. The Citizen Scouts 
are expected to be self-directing and to take actual part in the life 
of the community and, either as wage earners or service givers, to pay 
their way. 

But the large majority of all girl scouts belong to the middle group. 
More girls register at 13 than at any other age. This is interesting, as 
it marks the age of susceptibilty to social ideas, shown also by the fact 
that it is the most common age of religious conversion. It is also 
the age of first crime. The distribution of ages at first registration 
is shown by the accompanying table. 

The organization of the regular girl scouts is as follows: 


Ages of Girl Scouts at first registration. 


Ages. 

Number. 

Per 1,000. 

6-9. . 

440 

5 

10. 

6,059 
9,130 
14,857 
16,434 

73 

11. 

110 

12. 

179 

13. 

198 

14. 

14,276 
10,707 
5,810 
3,4S6 

80,759 
1,826 

172 

15. . 

129 

16.:. 

70 

17. 

42 

Total 10-17. 

973 

and oyer. 

22 

18 

Grand total. 

83,025 

1,000 



Patrol .—Eight girls form a Patrol, which is the working unit. 
One of them is elected patrol leader and has charge of the activi¬ 
ties for as long as the patrol wishes. It is desirable to have each 
girl of a patrol serve as a leader at some time or other. 

Troop .—One or more patrols constitute a Troop, which is the 
administrative unit recognized by the national organization. The 
Troop meets weekly and wherever possible at a place which “ be¬ 
longs ” to it. When possible troops should meet outdoors. The 
troops are self-supporting and earn money for all equipment as well 
as for camps and hikes or special activities. Troops are registered 
with national headquarters and pay annual dues of 50 cents for each 
member. They also have their own local dues, generally 5 or 10 cents 
weekly. 

Captain .—The troop is under the direction of a Captain, who must 
be at least 21 years of age and whose qualification as a leader of 
young girls is passed upon by national headquarters before she is 
commissioned. 





















10 


BIENNIAL SURVEY OF EDUCATION, 1918-1920. 


Lieutenant .—A captain may have one or more Lieutenants, who 
must be at least 18 years of age, and whose commissions are likewise 
subject to control by national headquarters. Captains and lieuten¬ 
ants may be organized into associations in any given locality. 

Scout classes .—There are three classes of girl scouts, the youngest 
being the “ Tenderfoot,” the name given by frontiersmen to the man 
from the city who is not hardened to the rough life out of doors. 
Even the Tenderfoot, however, has to know some things, including 
the promise, laws, slogan, and motto; how to salute and the respect 
due to the flag; how to make an American flag; and how to tie at 
least four kinds of useful knots. She must also have earned enough 
money to buy some part of her scout equipment. 

The “ Second-class ” scout has been a tenderfoot for at least one 
month and can pass a test of. distinctly greater difficulty. This in¬ 
cludes, under home interests, the ability to make fires in stoves and 
out of doors, to cook a simple dish so that it will be palatable, to 
set a table for two courses, to make an ordinary and a hospital bed, 
and to sew. 

Under health interests, she must know the main rules of healthful 
living, her own height and weight, and their relation to the stand¬ 
ard; some simple first-aid points such as stopping bleeding, remov- 
ing speck from eye, and bandaging a sprained ankle. She must 
also have a variety of facts at her command that will keep her alert 
and interested when out of doors, such as an acquaintance with ani¬ 
mals, birds, and plants, the use of a compass, the alphabet of a signal 
code; and must demonstrate her ability to observe her surroundings 
accurately and quickly so as to report upon them. 

Under topics preparing for citizenship she must know the history 
of the American flag, how to prevent fire, and what to do in case of 
fire, and must have served her troop, church, or community in some 
way and earned or saved money for some personal or troop equip¬ 
ment. 

The highest rank is that of “First-class” scout, and is to be at¬ 
tained only by a young person of considerable accomplishment. She 
must be able to find her way about city or country without any of 
the usual aids, using only the compass and her developed judgment 
of distance and direction. She must also be able to communicate 
and receive messages by signaling. She must have shown profi¬ 
ciency in home nursing, first aid, and housekeeping, and, in addition, 
in either child care, personal health, laundering, cooking, needle¬ 
work, or gardening. She must also be an all-round outdoors person, 
familiar with camping and able to lead in this, or be a good skater 
or a naturalist or be able to swim. Not only must she know all these 
different things, but she must have trained a tenderfoot, started a 
savings account, and served her community in some tangible way. 


EDUCATIONAL WORK OF THE GIRL SCOUTS. 


11 


Proficiency badges .—After a girl scout has attained to first class 
there are still other worlds to conquer, as the badges she has earned 
on the way are only a few of the many to be worked toward. There 
are no less than 47 subjects in which a scout may achieve, and more 
are being added. Just to mention a few: A girl scout may be an 
artist, a beekeeper, a business woman, a craftsman, or a dancer; an 
electrician, a farmer, a flower finder, a horsewoman, an interpreter, 
a motorist; or a musician, a scribe, a swimmer, or a star gazer. The 
highest award given is the Golden Eaglet, which means the earning 
of 21 Merit Badges, of which 15 are in required subjects. 

About 2,000 Merit Badges are earned a month. An analysis of the 
subjects shows that home nursing is the most popular, with 126 of 
each 1,000 earned. Laundress comes next with 97. First aid is next 
with 67. Needlewoman, child nurse, cook, pathfinder, health guar¬ 
dian, flower finder or zoologist, and home maker complete the first 
10 most popular badges, with between 61 and 38 in each 1,000. The 
details are shown in the accompanying table. 

Local councils .—Where troops are numerous it is usual to form a 
council composed of women and men representing all the best inter¬ 
ests of the community: Parents, schools, religious denominations of 
all sorts, business, producers, women’s clubs, and other social and 
philanthropic organizations. The council acts as the link between 
the girl scouts and the community. It has the same relation to the 
separate troops that the school board has to the schools—that is, 
it guides and decides upon policies and standards, interprets the 
scouts to the community and the community to the scouts. It does 
not do the executive or teaching work; that belongs to the directors, 
captains, lieutenants, and patrol leaders. 

One function of the council is to interest public-spirited women 
and men, particularly artists and scientists, in girl-scout work and to 
get them to act as referees in awarding proficiency badges. 

But wisdom is to be sought not only in large cities, where there are 
schools and museums, laboratories and studios. It is a poor com¬ 
munity that does not have at least one wise old person—a farmer 
learned in nature’s ways, a retired sailor stocked with sea lore, or a 
mother of men who knows life as perhaps no one else can. The wise 
council will know where to find these natural teachers and see that 
the scouts go to their schools. 

Another prime function of the council is to raise funds and to 
make available such material equipment as camp sites, meeting places 
for the troops, etc. The captain should turn to the council for help 
in arranging and directing rallies, dances, fairs, pageants, and other 
devices for entertainment or securing money. 

National organization .—The central governing body of the girl 
scouts is the national council, holding an annual convention of elected 


12 BIENNIAL SURVEY OE EDUCATION, 1918-1920. 

delegates from all local groups. The national council works through 
an executive board, which meets monthly and conducts national 
headquarters in New York. The national director is in charge of 
headquarters and his direct responsibility for the administration of 
the whole organization, with the general divisions of field, business, 
publication, and edjication, each in charge of a secretary. 

The field work is administered through 14 regions, each covering 
several States, and in charge of a regional director, who helps in the 
formation of local councils, the training of captains, and acts as 
general supervisor and consultant for all work in the district. 

Under business comes the handling of mails, all the work of the 
shop where uniforms, insignia, books, badges, flags, and other equip¬ 
ment are sold, and the distribution of material ordered by mail. 

There are three classes of publications: First, a monthly journal, 
The American Girl. Second, pamphlets and articles for general 
propaganda and publicity; these are handled by the editorial and 
publicity staffs, respectively. Third come publications of a tech¬ 
nical nature, like the official handbooks for scouts and officers and 
outlines for training courses. These form part of the work of the 
education department, which has general oversight of all that per¬ 
tains to training for leaders and the development of standards of 
work, including the important feature of coordinating the girl 
scouts with the other educational and social organizations. Camp¬ 
ing also forms a part of the work of the education department. 

During 1919 and 1920 the following publications were issued: 
Scouting for Girls: The official handbook, 576 pages. 

Gampward Ho: A manual for girl-scout camps, 192 pages. De¬ 
signed to cover the needs of those undertaking to organize and 
direct large, self-supporting camps for girls. 

The Blue Booh of Rules for Girl Scout Gattains: All official rules 
and regulations, 32 pages. 

Training Courses: (1) Outline for 32-period course, 17 pages. (2) 
Introductory course, 10 periods, 16 pages. 

Girl Scout Health Record: Booklet form for recording points for 
health winner’s badge. 

Miscellaneous Pamphlets: Averaging 8 pages; 128,325 copies. 

Need for leaders. —The growth in membership has been twice as 
rapid among the scouts as it has among the officers, as may be seen 
in the table already given. For every scout in 1918 we have 10 in 
1921. For every officer in 1918 we have but 5 in 1921. For some time 
to come, therefore, the energy of the national officers must be directed 
toward the securing of properly trained leaders. 

Colleges and higher schools are responding to a gratifying extent 
with the introduction of training courses in scouting for girls. Within 
two years courses have been given at the following colleges or uni- 


EDUCATIONAL WORK OF THE GIRL SCOUTS. 


13 


versities: Adelphi, Boston, Bryn Mawr, Carnegie Institute, Cin¬ 
cinnati, Converse, Elmira, Hunter, Johns Hopkins, Missouri, New 
Rochelle, Northwestern, Pittsburg, Rochester Mechanics’ Institute, 
Rochester University, Rockford, Simmons, Smith, Syracuse, Teach¬ 
ers’ College, and Vassar. Also at the following higher schools: Bat¬ 
tle Creek Normal School of Physical Education, Brooklyn Training 
School for Teachers, Chautauqua Institute, Chicago Normal School 
of Physical Education, Community Service Council of Marquette 
County, Mich., Manhattan Trade School for Girls, Milwaukee Nor¬ 
mal, State Normal at Pittsburgh, Pa., Washington State Normal, and 
Western State Normal, Mich. The following schools and colleges are 
asking for courses: Chicago, Cornell, Detroit Normal, Kalamazoo, 
Michigan State Normal, Pennsylvania State, and Temple University. 

Through cooperation with the deans of women in all parts of the 
country, and with the Intercollegiate Community Service Associa¬ 
tion, the college women are being influenced to take up scouting as an 
extra academic activity before graduation, and as a form of com¬ 
munity service in their home towns later. 

In additipn to this work through existing educational bodies, many 
special courses are conducted in connection with the organizations of 
local councils. 

The First National Training School for Girl Scout Officers has 
been conducted for four years, the last two years at Long Pond Camp 
in Plymouth, Mass. During the summer of 1920 special training 
camps were also held in connection with the councils of Greater New 
York, Cincinnati, and Harrisburg, with instruction given under the 
auspices of national headquarters. Five such camps are planned for 
1921, located in Plymouth, Central Valley, in the Catskills, Lake 
Mohegan, N. Y., Philadelphia., and Cincinnati. 

Scouting in the 'public schools .—Only that organization for young 
people can succeed which contributes directly to their chief business, 
which is getting an education. One reason the girl scout organiza¬ 
tion is received so cheerfully by school people is that it works into the 
school’s own plans to a remarkable degree. Local councils have a 
larger representation from the public schools than from any other 
single agency. Scout leaders are drawn largely from the teaching 
force because teachers naturally have a better insight into the needs 
of young people than any other single group. 

In a few places this interest has resulted in the gradual assimila¬ 
tion of scouting into the school system. At Fort Scott, Kans., this 
work has progressed furthest, with 90 per cent of all pupils of scout 
age, either boy or girl scouts. Supt. Ramsey made a most favorable 
report on this situation at the Cleveland meeting of the Depart¬ 
ment of Superintendence of the National Education Association in 
1920. Among essential features he mentioned the following: 


14 


BIENNIAL. SURVEY OF EDUCATION, 1918-1920. 


The boy scout executive and girl scout commissioner act as recrea¬ 
tional directors and have charge of all the health education and voca¬ 
tional guidance. 

A room is set aside in the Junior High School for all scout work 
which, however, is passed upon by a council, including persons out¬ 
side of the school force. 

Through glee clubs and choruses great interest in community sing¬ 
ing and other music has been developed. The scout organization is 
helping to solve the dress problem for both boys and girls. 

“ To give the modern ideals of education would be to state the 
ideals of scouting.” The modern teacher is increasingly well fitted 
to become a good scout leader. 

Scouting may best be promoted through the public school, be¬ 
cause that is the only organization that includes all the boys and 
girls. Moreover, because of close daily association, leaders of school 
troops can insure each scout being an active scout. 

The school also benefits by scouting in a number of ways. Older 
pupils stay in school longer because of their interest in scouting than 
because of any other influence. “A year of work in scouting will do 
as much toward acquainting a teacher with the ideals of teaching as 
a year spent in any college or university of the country.” Finally, 
scouting secures the interest, attention, and good will of the parents 
to the public schools. 

Girl Scout badges earned in 1919-20. 


Subject. 

Number. 

Per 1,000. 

Subject. 

Number. 

Per 1,000. 

1. Home nurse.. 

2,852 

126 

18. Interpreter_ 

578 

25 

2. Laundress. 

2,192 

97 

19. Swimmer_ 

557 

25 

3. First aid. 

1,523 

67 

20. Business... 

424 

19 

4. Needlewoman. 

1,389 

61 

21. Cyclist. 

422 

19 

5. Child nurse. 

1,267 

56 

22. Gardener. 

393 

17 

6. Cook.. 

991 

44 

23. Athlete. 

345 

15 

7. Pathfinder. 

990 

44 

24. Horsewoman_ 

266 

12 

8. Health guardian. 

923 

41 

25. Bugler. 

254 

11 

9. Flower finder or zoologist. 

878 

39 

26. Scribe. 

216 

10 

10. Home maker. 

861 

38 

27. Telegrapher... 

192 

g 

11. Citizen. 

732 

32 

28. Motorist_ 

190 

g 

12. Signaler. 

647 

28 

29. Dairy maid. 

190 

g 

13. Bird hunter. 

636 

28 

30. Fanner_ 

187 

g 

14. Health winner. 

600 

26 

31. Sailor. 

130 

6 

15. Pioneer. 

595 

26 

32. Electrician.. 

101 

4 

16. Artist... 

592 

26 



17. Musician. 

580 

26 

Total. .. 

22,693 

1,000 






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